Portal:Games

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A game is a structured type of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).

Games are sometimes played purely for enjoyment, sometimes for achievement or reward as well. They can be played alone, in teams, or online; by amateurs or by professionals. The players may have an audience of non-players, such as when people are entertained by watching a chess championship. On the other hand, players in a game may constitute their own audience as they take their turn to play. Often, part of the entertainment for children playing a game is deciding who is part of their audience and who is a player. A toy and a game are not the same. Toys generally allow for unrestricted play whereas games present rules for the player to follow.

Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role. (Full article...)

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Starweb (or StarWeb) is a closed-end, space-based, play-by-mail (PBM) game. First published by Flying Buffalo Inc. in 1975, it was the company's second PBM game after Nuclear Destruction, the game that started the PBM industry in 1970. Players today can choose a postal mail or email format. Fifteen players per game assume one of six available roles and explore and conquer planets within a universe comprising 225 worlds. The object of the game is to attain a predetermined number of points which are generated by various actions during gameplay. Multiple game variants are available. Starweb is still available for play as of 2021 through the company Rick Loomis PBM Games.

Starweb has received numerous reviews from the 1970s to the 21st century with positive and negative comments. Reviewer and game designer Timothy B. Brown stated in 1990 that "StarWeb is arguably the best-loved, most widely known play-by-mail game in history," and the editor of Flagship magazine said in 2009 that it was "one of the best turn-based games ever". The game has won awards across multiple decades from the 1980s to the 21st century. These include the 1984 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Play-by-Mail Game, the 1997 Origins Award for Best Ongoing Play-by-Mail Game, the 2000 and 2003 Origins Awards for Best Play-by-Mail Game, and the 2006 Origins Award for Play By Mail Game of the Year. (Full article...)

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...that in 1967, Mac Hack became the first computer chess program to defeat a person in tournament play?
...that a reviewer called the narrator in the game Defenders of Ardania (pictured) "booze-obsessed", with a voice that sounds like "a Dalek doing an impression of Sean Connery"?
...that snooker player Stephen Maguire won his first ranking tournament at the 2004 European Open in Malta?
...that the Crawford-Gilpin House is alleged to have once changed owners due to being lost as a wager in a poker game?
...that The Big Bang Theory episode "The Santa Simulation" features a Christmas-themed Dungeons & Dragons game?

General images

The following are images from various game-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
Image 2Young girls playing a board game in the Iisalmi library in Finland, 2016 (from Board game)
Image 3Parcheesi is an American adaptation of a Pachisi, originating in India. (from Game)
Image 4Typical MUD interface for God Wars II (from Role-playing game)
Image 5A ball-in-a-maze puzzle requires fine motor skills. (from Game of skill)
Image 6A fantasy LARP group (from Role-playing game)
Image 7The modern German board game Catan is printed in 30 languages and sold 15 million by 2009. (from Board game)
Image 8Royal game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600–2400 BCE (from Board game)
Image 9 Men Playing Board Games, from The Sougandhika Parinaya Manuscript (from Board game)
Image 10Historically, card games such as whist and contract bridge were opportunities for quiet socializing, as shown in this 1930s magic lantern slide photo taken in Seattle, Washington. (from Card game)
Image 11Han dynasty glazed pottery tomb figurines playing liubo, with six sticks laid out to the side of the game board (from Board game)
Image 12Preferans, a trick-taking card game version popular in Croatia (from Card game)
Image 13Playing Cards, by Theodoor Rombouts, 17th century (from Game)
Image 14Students using dice to improve numeracy skills. They roll three dice, then use basic math operations to combine those into a new number which they cover on the board. The goal is to cover four squares in the row. (from Game)
Image 15Mamluk playing card (king of cups), c.15th century (from Card game)
Image 16An adventurer finds a teleportation portal while exploring a dungeon in the role-playing video game Falcon's Eye. (from Role-playing game)
Image 17Ancient Egyptian senet game board inscribed for Amenhotep III with separate sliding drawer, from 1390 to 1353 BC, made of glazed faience, dimensions: 5.5 × 7.7 × 21 cm, in the Brooklyn Museum (New York City). (from Game)
Image 18The Card Players by Lucas van Leyden (1520) depicting a multiplayer card game (from Game)
Image 19Patolli game being watched by Macuilxochitl as depicted on page 048 of the Codex Magliabechiano (from Board game)
Image 20A group playing a tabletop RPG. The GM is at left using a cardboard screen to hide dice rolls from the players. (from Role-playing game)
Image 21Tug of war is an easily organized, impromptu game that requires little equipment. (from Game)
Image 22Hounds and jackals (Egypt, 13th Dynasty) (from Board game)
Image 23The Mansion of Happiness (1843) (from Board game)
Image 24Senet, one of the oldest known board games (from Board game)
Image 25The number of board games published by year (1944–2017), as listed on BoardGameGeek. Expansion sets for existing games are marked in orange. (from Board game)
Image 26The board game Monopoly is licensed in 103 countries and printed in 37 languages. (from Board game)
Image 27The Card Players, 17th-century painting by Theodoor Rombouts (from Card game)
Image 28Backgammon is a game of skill. Strategy can give players advantages, but there is also an element of chance. (from Game of skill)
Image 29Association football is a popular sport worldwide.
Image 30A selection of pieces from different games. From top: Chess pawns, marbles, Monopoly tokens, dominoes, Monopoly hotels, jacks and checkers pieces. (from Game)
Image 31Two Qataris playing the traditional board game of damah (from Board game)